Ancient Egypt for KidsSnakes

There were over 30 different types of
snakes in ancient Egypt. Most were harmless to humans. But some
were very dangerous like the Egyptian cobra and
the horned viper. The Egyptians had mixed feelings about snakes. People
died from snake bites. On the other hand, snakes
kept the rat population down. This helped to keep rats out of the grain storage.

The ancient Egyptians loved symbols. The deadly
Egyptian cobra was a royal symbol. This
symbol was used as one of the two symbols rising from the forehead on statues of gods and
on funeral
masks of pharaohs. On the image below, you
can see two symbols rising from King Tut's mask - a vulture and a cobra. These
royal symbols were included to honor the goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt for
protection.
(The other symbols found on this and other royal funeral masks is the nemes or
striped headcloth and the false beard.)